Is Putin making another power grab in the Middle East? Moscow denies backing renegade Libyan general who is marching on Tripoli - amid suspicions of a Russian hand in looming civil war
- Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar announced this week that his forces are currently marching on Tripoli
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Russia was not backing Haftar in his bid to take over Libya
- Fears are rising that the country could descend into civil war if Haftar's army clashes with other rival factions
Russia has denied supporting a Libyan general who is currently marching on Tripoli in an apparent attempt to take control of the north African nation.
Rebel strongman Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern-based Libyan National Army, is pushing west towards Tripoli, to challenge the internationally recognised government.
Militias in the west have vowed to confront the army command's attempt to seize the capital, sparking fears of a renewed civil war.
This morning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the crisis would not lead to 'renewed bloodshed', adding that Moscow did not support Haftar. Asked if Russia considered supporting Libya militarily, Peskov said: 'No, Moscow is not taking part in this in any way.'
The military thrust by Haftar's LNA marks a dangerous escalation of a power struggle that has dragged on since the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was due to meet Haftar in Benghazi today in a bid to avert war.
A video published on the Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar's Facebook page on Wednesday allegedly shows military convoys heading towards western Libya and Tripoli
Haftar's trucks were filmed lining the road to Tripoli this week as the leader proclaimed on Facebook that his forces would be heading to the capital
Militia faction leader Khalifa Haftar is moving towards Tripoli from the country's east along with his army, sparking fears of a civil war
Strongman Haftar, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, controls some parts of the country, while the capital is the seat of a UN-backed government.
A showdown between Hafter's army and the militias could plunge Libya into another spasm of violence, possibly the worst since the 2011 civil war.
Yesterday, LNA forces took Gharyan, about 50 miles south of Tripoli after skirmishes with forces allied to Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.
Hafter then ordered his forces to march on the capital, saying in an audio recording posted online: 'We are coming Tripoli, we are coming.'
He also urged his forces to enter the city peacefully and only raise their weapons 'in the face of those who seek injustice and prefer confrontation and fighting.'
Trucks armed with heavy machine guns could be seen driving down the road in the remote region in the center of Libya as they made their way to Tripoli
Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar patroling in downtown Sebha last month, the biggest city in southern Libya
Hafter's spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari said later the army's next stop would be the town of al-Aziziya, considered the gates of Tripoli.
In response, the militias from the western cities of Zawiya and Misarata, which control Tripoli, posted on social media early Friday that they're mobilising to confront Hafter.
'We are the revolutionaries and the elders ... we declare we are on full mobilization and war,' they said.
Militias allied to the Tripoli government moved more machinegun-mounted pickups from the coastal city of Misrata to Tripoli to defend it against Haftar's forces.
The escalation surprised the United Nations, whose Secretary-General Guterres had been in Tripoli this week to help organize a national reconciliation national conference planned for later this month.
Soldiers from the self-styled army of Libyan Strongman Khalifa Haftar take part in a military parade in the eastern city of Benghazi in May last year
A member of pro-internationally recognised government forces checks the confiscated military vehicles from Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's troops
Guterres, who spent Thursday night in the heavily fortified U.N. compound in a Tripoli suburb, was flying to Benghazi on Friday to meet Haftar.
He will also go to Tobruk, another eastern city, to meet lawmakers of the House of Representatives, which is also allied to Haftar.
'My aim remains the same: avoid a military confrontation. I reiterate that there is no military solution for the Libyan crisis, only a political one,' Guterres said on Twitter.
Assembly President Aguila Saleh welcomed the offensive, a spokesman said.
Haftar also enjoys the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which see him as bulwark against Islamists and have supported him militarily, according to U.N. reports.
Germany called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council due to the military escalation.
Russia said it was not helping Haftar's forces and it supported a negotiated political settlement that ruled out any new bloodshed.
'The situation should be resolved peacefully,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Former colonial power Italy, which lies across the Mediterranean from Libya, was very worried by the turn of events, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said.
'We need to throw water on the fire, not petrol on the fire. I hope that people, acting out of economic or business self-interest, is not looking for a military solution, which would be devastating,' Salvini said.
The United Nations and Western countries have been trying to mediate between Serraj and Haftar, who met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal.
The conference the United Nations is helping to organize is aimed at forging agreement on a road map for elections to resolve the prolonged instability in Libya, an oil producer and transit point for refugees and migrants trekking across the Sahara with the aim of reaching Europe.
Libya since Gaddafi: How the country went from liberation to the brink of civil war
Libya has been mired in chaos since the ouster and killing of dictator Colonel Gaddafi in 2011, with two rival authorities and a multitude of militias vying for control of the oil-rich country.
Strongman Khalifa Haftar's forces were pushed back Friday from a key checkpoint less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Tripoli, checking their lightning advance on the capital, seat of the country's internationally recognised unity government.
Haftar supports a parallel administration based in the east.
Here is a timeline of the Mediterranean country's descent into turmoil:
Former dictator Colonel Gaddafi was the Libyan leader from 1969 until 2011. During the Libyan civil war the government was overthrown, and Gaddafi retreated to Sirte, only to be captured and killed
Gaddafi killed
Triggered by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, demonstrations erupt in Libya in February 2011. A coalition led by Washington, Paris and London lends its backing to an armed revolt.
Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, flees the capital. He is captured and killed on October 20, 2011 during a battle for his hometown Sirte, east of Tripoli.
Three days later, the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) declares Libya's 'total liberation'.
In August 2012 the NTC hands power to a transitional authority elected a month earlier - the General National Congress (GNC).
Embassies targeted
US ambassador Chris Stevens and three American staff are killed in a September 11, 2012 attack on their consulate in Libya's second city Benghazi. An Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group is blamed.
A car bomb in April 2013 targets France's embassy in Tripoli, wounding two French guards.
Most foreign delegations withdraw from the country.
Rival governments
Dissident army general Haftar launches an offensive in May 2014 against jihadist groups in Benghazi. He is backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Several military officers from the east join his self-styled Libyan National Army.
As nationalists and Islamists vie for power, legislative elections are held in June and the GNC is replaced by a parliament dominated by anti-Islamists.
Islamist-led militias contest the results and group under the banner of 'Fajr Libya' (Libya Dawn). They storm Tripoli in August, installing their own 'national salvation' government and restoring the GNC.
The elected house, which has international recognition, takes refuge in the eastern city of Tobruk near the border with Egypt.
Thus the country finds itself with two governments and two parliaments.
After months of negotiations and international pressure, lawmakers from the rival parliaments sign an accord in December 2015 in Morocco to set up a UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
In March 2016, GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj arrives in Tripoli to set up the new government, but Haftar's rival administration refuses to recognise its authority.
Peace talks, armed groups
In July 2017, Sarraj and Haftar meet for talks near Paris where they agree to a ceasefire and commit to elections the following year.
In May 2018, weeks after suicide attackers from the Islamic State group kill 14 people at Libya's electoral commission, the two men meet again in the French capital and commit to holding parliamentary and presidential polls at the end of the year.
In June 2018, a militia attacks two northeastern oil sites under Haftar's control through which oil is exported.
After days of fighting, Haftar's forces announce they are back in 'full control' and have also seized the city of Derna from radical Islamists.
In January 2019 Haftar launches an offensive into oil-rich southern Libya, ostensibly aimed at wiping out 'terrorists' and criminal groups.
His forces seize the region's capital Sebha and one of the country's main oil fields without a fight.
Conferences
On February 28 the UN says Libya's rivals have met and agreed to hold polls.
In March the UN says it will organise an all-party conference the next month to draw up a 'road map' for Libya, including setting dates for legislative and presidential elections.
Later in March the African Union says it will host a 'reconciliation' conference in July aimed at uniting Libya's political rivals.
Advance on Tripoli
On Wednesday, Haftar's forces announce they are gearing up to move on the west of the country including Tripoli.
A day later powerful armed groups from the western city of Misrata, loyal to the Tripoli government, vow to block the threatened advance.
UN chief Antonio Guterres expresses deep concern over the risk of a major flare-up in Libya.
Haftar orders his troops to advance on Tripoli, saying 'the time has come'.
The strongman's forces seize a key security barrier within 27 kilometres of the capital later that day without any fighting, General Abdessalem al-Hassi says.
But on Friday, a security source says militiamen from the nearby coastal town of Zawiya retake the base after 'a short exchange of fire'.
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